Before meeting Putin, Trump backed down, his attitude made a 180-degree turn, and he was about to walk away: I'm not a local
US President Trump, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, and several European leaders held a video conference to discuss Trump's upcoming meeting with Russian President Putin on the 15th.
According to multiple sources, Trump was persuaded at the meeting and said that territorial exchange might be part of the peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. However, he himself is not a local and cannot make the final decision on the territorial issue, and emphasized that it should be directly negotiated by "Vladimir and Vladimir."
These two Vladimirs refer to Putin and Zelenskyy respectively.
Over these days, from the confirmation of the meeting to its upcoming appearance, Trump's tone has been gradually decreasing.
Initially, he still portrayed the Putin-Zelenskyy summit as a decisive summit and sent strong signals, implying that he had economic and political pressure measures in his hands. Soon, he downgraded the position to a trial meeting, emphasizing listening more and lowering expectations for results.
In the latest video conference, he even directly pushed the territorial issue back to Ukraine and Russia, no longer clearly taking sides.
This shift from active pressure to passive observation shows that Trump does not want to take too much political responsibility in this meeting.
As to why he wants to walk away, it is directly related to his current situation.
This move by Trump is intended to alleviate the pre-meeting attacks from Europe and Ukraine, as well as to avoid taking the blame if the talks fall apart.
He threw the most controversial issues to Putin and Zelenskyy, leaving himself an escape route — if the talks succeed, he can say it was his mediation that made it possible; if they fail, he can emphasize that the land of Ukraine is decided by Zelenskyy there.
By retreating like this, it actually indicates that Trump clearly knows that nothing will come out of this meeting with Putin.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1840405743862796/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.